The Duke's Passion

Once upon a time, vampires used to live in seclusion, away from human civilization. Back then, vampires never meddled in human affairs, living silently amongst themselves. Until after many years, a wrecked ship drifted into the land of vampires.

With humans in their land, the vampire society had different opinions on whether to silence them or have mercy on their pathetic, fragile life. The Grimsbanne Clan, who was at the time, the leader amongst vampires, had decided to keep the humans as guests.

Of course, since vampires looked more like humans, the guests suspected nothing at first. They merely assumed it was another hidden country that was yet to be discovered by larger countries. Although the hostility was there at first, other vampires started opening up the longer they got to know their human guests. 

Until one fateful night, a human had uncovered the secret of the land. Fear enveloped their hearts and branded the land as a den of monsters; a place that never had existed. While vampires had completely put their trust in these guests, the latter schemed behind their backs to set the land on fire and escape, just to return and invade it.

However, neither of those humans and vampires knew what happened next.

Blood reeked in the air, and the ground turned red. A man stood atop the pile of corpses of humans, shocking all the vampires, who rushed to follow the strong scent of blood. 

According to Lara, those noble vampires could only stare at the human who slew his fellow humans in cold blood. His words were, "Dead people tell no tales. I, Soran Barrett, offer their bodies for they had wronged your kind."

After saying his piece, Soran Barrett had attempted to slit his throat after killing his people with his own sword. However, the clan leader of the Grimsbanne stopped his madness and kept him locked up in the dungeon, afraid he would do something silly. 

When asked why Soran did it, his answer was simple: humans were wrong. Soran had respected and already knew about the secret of the land, but he said nothing about it. Thus, when he heard the other human's plans on escaping the land to return to invade it, he did what he thought was right. 

One could assume Soran was kind, but he wasn't. Instead of being kind, Soran was just wise. He didn't protect the vampires, what he protected was the world outside. 

Soran knew the difference between human and vampire strength, and the outcome if a vampire and humans started taking each other's lives. Therefore, to prevent such bad blood between two species, he sullied his hands to keep this secret society away from humankind.

He didn't keep his intention a secret, and he was very vocal about it. His character and honesty gained the respect of not just the Grimsbanne Clan, but also the respect of other pureblooded vampire clans. 

The clans that Soran got particularly closed with were the Grimsbanne Clan, the La Crox's, the Moriarty's, Von Stein, Le Blac, Bloodfang, and the Crawford's. Out of respect to this human, these powerhouse clans blessed his blood with strength comparable to those of vampires.

In return, Soran swore in his blood to keep the secret of their existence. 

But all stories had endings. Soran finally decided to return to the outside world.

During his departure, many vampires had sent him off, and he promised to visit once again. Of course, the vampire society reassured him that they would wait for that day.

And off he went with the memories he had built with creatures who had a more humane heart than humans such as himself.

The first human friend the vampires had acknowledged and highly respected kept and broke his promise. He, indeed, didn't say a single word about the vampires, but he also didn't return.

Out of worry and curiosity about the outside world, the youths of each clan had decided to set off and visit Soran. 

It was still a wonder if those youths actually got the permission of their clan leaders or they just snuck out. Either way, they went out and blended into human society in search of Soran. 

What these youths didn't expect was, Soran Barrett was a king of some land and his return to human society marked the birth of the Divine Weapons. To go against the vampires? No. He just knew that one day, if another shipwreck was washed ashore in that land, and the humans would be shrouded with fear of the vampire's existence; things would just go downhill from there.

Indeed, Soran was a wise man, and his explanation to those youths had soothed their anger. Since Soran acknowledged these youths as his friends, he had protected them in the human world, just like how they protected him back in the vampire society. Alas, even a wise man like him could never keep up to human's fickle hearts.

Once the secret of the youths' identities was exposed to the public by an unknown source, Soran protected the young vampires and… died. Witnessing the death of their dear human friend, the young vampires were blinded with rage.

Soran's death marked the domination of the vampires. After many years, vampires had settled in human society, gaining power and influence, military strength, and wealth. 

The Kingdom of Iris was renamed the Heart's Kingdom. That meant the heart and light of Soran. 

However, as years go by, the promise made in Soran's dying breath was forgotten with the new generation of vampires.

Greed had monopolized both humans and vampires, and darkness remained, reigning their lives.

"Soran Barrett… is he Fabian and Rufus' ancestor?" I asked in disbelief, as I didn't expect this type of long history of the Barrett's and the vampires.

Lara nodded with a gentle smile on her face. "As you've noticed, the Barrett's bloodline has superhuman strength. Even before Samael's meeting with them, those two brothers were already strong."

"Are you telling me those two were of royal blood? Does everyone know about this?" 

"I believed I told you the new generation of vampires had long forgotten the promise. So, no. From our generation to yours, no one knew about the Barrett's… but alas, it seemed even time cannot hide the greatness of Soran's blood."